AMELIE - PART V
© Tamsin L. Silver 2013
“Stay back!” Pastor Steven said, grabbing both of the younger boys.
The demon took out a cigarette and lit it. With a deep inhale, he let the silence envelope us, me standing between him and the family inside, he waiting for something. As he exhaled smoke, I placed my right hand on my left arm, more specifically, on the hilt of Esther. I was about to begin the chant of banishment and exorcism when a voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Soup's ready. What is going on over here?” Patricia said from inside.
“The hell I will!” Killian said.
“Son, language!”
“Really, that’s your concern right now?” Killian grabbed his younger brother. “Stay here. You hear me?”
Davey, eyes wide with fear, nodded.
I headed toward the door until Killian stopped me.
“You may want to stay back.”
I smiled. “I don’t think so.” I stepped around him faster than he could stop me.
“Well then, by all means, my lady,” Killian muttered under his breath.
“I can hear you.”
“Great. Bionic ears, too. Just great,” he said, sarcasm thick in his tone.
I arrived at the doors in time to put an arm in front of Pastor Steven. “Wait. Do not leave the holy ground of the church.”
Pastor Steven turned to me. “What? Why?”
“Trust me, just stay inside,” I clarified, my voice a whisper.
I scanned the area outside area. We appeared to be at the end of a dead-end dirt road and the only building around, tucked away in the corner of the woods on a hill. Leading from the front doors to a small gravel parking lot to the right, which contained only two vehicles, were stepping-stones. Surrounding us like a cozy blanket were tall trees, primarily pine, and they stretched as far as I could see.
Silence filled the air, the only sound was Killian's breathing as he stepped up to my other side. “I don’t understand,” he said quietly, “there’s not a thing on fire out here. Nothing blew up.”
“The blast wasn’t made of matter,” I said. “Stay inside no matter what happens to me.”
“What?” both Killian and the pastor said, their tones identical, expressing disbelief.
Ignoring them, I stepped outside, and lifted my voice, “Come forth, in the name of the Most Holy, our Father the Most High.”
An elegant dark haired man wearing a black, button up shirt and dress slacks, appeared as if yanked against his will, from the ether. “Now, now, there’s no need to get pushy. I’d have come out.”
“I don’t like to play games. What is your business here, eternally damned one?”
“We are brethren, you and I.”
“No, we are not. You made your choices. I made mine.”
“Yet, here you are, on the battleground. My master felt the balance change, for he rules this plane.”
“Not fully.”
Temporarily I wondered what the others saw. Seeing as they weren't screaming, I assumed they saw the man as I did, not the demon. However, they could not sense the demon like I could. I entertained calling him forth to reveal his true self. But with no idea what he looked like or how large he was, I decided it was best he stay in human form.
The demon laughed. “You have no authority here.”
One of the corners of my mouth ticked up. “Want to make a bet? Now leave this family alone. Go back where you came from."
The demon took out a cigarette and lit it. With a deep inhale, he let the silence envelope us, me standing between him and the family inside, he waiting for something. As he exhaled smoke, I placed my right hand on my left arm, more specifically, on the hilt of Esther. I was about to begin the chant of banishment and exorcism when a voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Soup's ready. What is going on over here?” Patricia said from inside.
Without turning my back on the demon, I stepped to the side so I could keep the door in my peripheral view. Doing so, I kept my eyes on the man in black.
“Charles, what are you doing here?” Patricia asked, and before we could stop her, she strode out the front door.
Then everything went to hell. Literally.
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